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Jews celebrate annual holiday
For some, Passover presents a chance to address the world’s problems, including poverty and hunger.
By Jeremy Oberstein and Ani Amirkhanian
As the sun sets tonight, millions of Jews around the world will engage in the time-honored tradition of Passover, a holiday in which the telling of a 3,000-year-old story sometimes turns into conversations about current events, and where eating a meal is less a means to consumption than a celebration of history.
For Rabbi Richard Flom of Burbank’s Temple Emanu El, Passover is an opportunity to address some of the ills that plague developing nations, including poverty and hunger.
“There is a lot of bad stuff happening at home and abroad,” he said. “Passover is about liberation from slavery, liberation from fear. We need to help those nearest to us, but sometimes you have to reach further afield, too.”
Because of rising oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India, riots have broken out around the world, including in the Darfur region of Sudan, to which Flom has directed some of his synagogue’s energy.
“We say at the opening of the Seder, ‘Let all who are hungry come and eat, let all who are needy come and enjoy,’” he said. “The food situation in Darfur is becoming more and more dire. Shipments of food will be cut back. It’s a very bad situation. We are supposed to open up our table for those who have a spiritual and literal hunger. You’re supposed to help others.”
Flom has invited speakers to his synagogue from Jewish agencies that help the needy and has cut back on his own Seder meal to practice what he preaches.
Part of that reach is about accommodating members of the community who might not have a place to celebrate the holiday and addressing some of societies’ most pressing issues together, said Rabbi Shmuly Kornfeld, of Chabad in Burbank, where a communal Seder with more than 100 people will be held at the synagogue Saturday night.
“It’s the holiday that brings together Jews from all different backgrounds,” he said. “Passover is considered a holiday of freedom, and the meal does remind us of that. Even eating matzah — known as the simple man’s bread — shows how grateful we should be for what we have. But for all the challenges we have, we still have freedom. I will remind people of that.”
History will also figure prominently at the Seder of Rabbi Mark Sobel, the spiritual leader of Burbank’s Temple Beth Emet.
“The story is biblical, it goes all the way back to Exodus, 3,000 years old,” he said.
“The history is very important. The history is timeless.”
Lofty messages of freedom and history notwithstanding, the Seder, a Hebrew word meaning “order” in which participants are commanded to take part in the retelling of the Jews’ expulsion from Egyptian captivity, centers around food and the traditions that dominate the weeklong festival.
At Temple Sinai in Glendale, visiting Rabbi Miriyam Glazer recently highlighted some of the history and rituals associated with the holiday’s ceremonial meal.
“Food is a ritual, or at least a lead into a ritual,” said Glazer, a professor of literature at American Jewish University and co-author of “The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking.” Most of the food served during the Seder meal is typically not eaten year-round and is prepared and consumed in a specific order, relative to the tale of the Jews fleeing Egyptian captivity, wandering in the desert and finding ultimate redemption in Israel, she said. Each morsel of food is bathed in symbolism and tells a different part of the story, she added. Gefilte fish, finely chopped fish mixed with bread crumbs and seasonings, is a symbol of fertility, while parsley dipped in saltwater is meant to evoke tears shed by ancestral slaves, and eggs signify the wholeness of the world, Glazer said.
Food meant more for some in Glazer’s audience than mere items to be consumed.
“It’s a way to acknowledge our group roots,” said Suzy Lenkowsky, a Temple Sinai member.
“It’s a real connection to the past.”
That connection will be felt for some well before guests sit down for the meal, including recent Jewish convert and Glendale resident Michele Derosa. “There is such an excitement during the [Seder] preparation,” Derosa said. “From cooking to setting the table.”
Passover begins tonight and ends on April 26.
JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety in Burbank. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com. ANI AMIRKHANIAN is a news assistant. She may be reached at (818) 637-3230 or by e-mail at ani.amirkhanian@latimes.com.
For Rabbi Richard Flom of Burbank’s Temple Emanu El, Passover is an opportunity to address some of the ills that plague developing nations, including poverty and hunger.
“There is a lot of bad stuff happening at home and abroad,” he said. “Passover is about liberation from slavery, liberation from fear. We need to help those nearest to us, but sometimes you have to reach further afield, too.”
Because of rising oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India, riots have broken out around the world, including in the Darfur region of Sudan, to which Flom has directed some of his synagogue’s energy.
“We say at the opening of the Seder, ‘Let all who are hungry come and eat, let all who are needy come and enjoy,’” he said. “The food situation in Darfur is becoming more and more dire. Shipments of food will be cut back. It’s a very bad situation. We are supposed to open up our table for those who have a spiritual and literal hunger. You’re supposed to help others.”
Flom has invited speakers to his synagogue from Jewish agencies that help the needy and has cut back on his own Seder meal to practice what he preaches.
Part of that reach is about accommodating members of the community who might not have a place to celebrate the holiday and addressing some of societies’ most pressing issues together, said Rabbi Shmuly Kornfeld, of Chabad in Burbank, where a communal Seder with more than 100 people will be held at the synagogue Saturday night.
“It’s the holiday that brings together Jews from all different backgrounds,” he said. “Passover is considered a holiday of freedom, and the meal does remind us of that. Even eating matzah — known as the simple man’s bread — shows how grateful we should be for what we have. But for all the challenges we have, we still have freedom. I will remind people of that.”
History will also figure prominently at the Seder of Rabbi Mark Sobel, the spiritual leader of Burbank’s Temple Beth Emet.
“The story is biblical, it goes all the way back to Exodus, 3,000 years old,” he said.
“The history is very important. The history is timeless.”
Lofty messages of freedom and history notwithstanding, the Seder, a Hebrew word meaning “order” in which participants are commanded to take part in the retelling of the Jews’ expulsion from Egyptian captivity, centers around food and the traditions that dominate the weeklong festival.
At Temple Sinai in Glendale, visiting Rabbi Miriyam Glazer recently highlighted some of the history and rituals associated with the holiday’s ceremonial meal.
“Food is a ritual, or at least a lead into a ritual,” said Glazer, a professor of literature at American Jewish University and co-author of “The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking.” Most of the food served during the Seder meal is typically not eaten year-round and is prepared and consumed in a specific order, relative to the tale of the Jews fleeing Egyptian captivity, wandering in the desert and finding ultimate redemption in Israel, she said. Each morsel of food is bathed in symbolism and tells a different part of the story, she added. Gefilte fish, finely chopped fish mixed with bread crumbs and seasonings, is a symbol of fertility, while parsley dipped in saltwater is meant to evoke tears shed by ancestral slaves, and eggs signify the wholeness of the world, Glazer said.
Food meant more for some in Glazer’s audience than mere items to be consumed.
“It’s a way to acknowledge our group roots,” said Suzy Lenkowsky, a Temple Sinai member.
“It’s a real connection to the past.”
That connection will be felt for some well before guests sit down for the meal, including recent Jewish convert and Glendale resident Michele Derosa. “There is such an excitement during the [Seder] preparation,” Derosa said. “From cooking to setting the table.”
Passover begins tonight and ends on April 26.
JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety in Burbank. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com. ANI AMIRKHANIAN is a news assistant. She may be reached at (818) 637-3230 or by e-mail at ani.amirkhanian@latimes.com.
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